Can I Wreck Your Helicopter?

Tommy and I are watching the grasshoppers on the sidewalk. They’re marvelous. They can jump so high, and when they fall they don’t get hurt.

“I can’t stomp on it?” Tommy’s just checking.

“No, let’s not stomp on it. That would hurt. And God made it.”

“We can’t wreck it?”

“No, let’s not wreck it.”

I bring a new toy to Tommy’s house—Fiddlestix™. They’re much like the Tinkertoy™ my brother enjoyed so much.

Lisa makes cars, a helicopter and a spinning sun. I make cars and flagpoles. Tommy’s intrigued. “Can I wreck your car?” he asks. “Can I wreck your helicopter?” Each time he asks, and each time he gets permission he gleefully unleashes the forces of destruction.

Lisa and I wonder. Is it his age? Fiddlestix™ is for age four and up. Or is it the boy thing we wondered about in “Sir Tommy, Knight of the Tall Grass”?